Manuel Jalón Corominas

Biography

Born in Logroño, Manuel Jalón Corominas spent most of his life in Zaragoza. Previously, he lived in the US and in Finland where he worked after he had finished his studies of aeronautic engineering in Madrid and his doctoral thesis about aeronautic accidents.

During a stay in the United States, Manuel Jalón observed how the hangars were washed with a flat mop and a bucket with rollers. Back in Spain he decided to initiate the manufacture in Spain of the first 'floorcleaners' or buckets with rollers.

His successes as inventor leaded to a company that Jalón founded in 1958, Manufacturas Rodex, S. A. Among his stockholders, Buenaventura and Domingo Rull got that the name Rodex became the generic name to call the mop. Manuel Jalón exported his products, the mop particularly, to more than 40 countries, from the United States to China.

His bucket with rollers and, later, the mop, changed the quality of life in the Spanish homes. They improved the traditional way of cleaning the floor which was done on knees, since with his inventions allowed to clean the floor without kneeling (cause of the bursitis of knee and spinal injuries) and without wearing out the hands because of the bleach.

In 1989, after more than 60 millions of mops sold around the world, the company stocks were sold to the Dutch multinational Curver BV. After this, Jalón worked in other invents, such as the disposable syringe which was a success too.

In 1991, the local government of Zaragoza awarded Manuel Jalón with the most important prize they give to companies, the prize Inmortal Ciudad de Zaragoza Salduba. In 1992 he was named favourite son of the City of Zaragoza. The same year he was named 'Riojano of the year' too.

Manuel Jalón Corominas died of cardiopulmonary arrest on 16 December 2011 in Zaragoza, age 86.